Pretty much what you’d expect from Australia’s players and staff in front of the press.
England did the media rounds during the week, and I am full of admiration for Ellis Genge’s straightforward contribution. “We’ve got to be better everywhere,” he said. “We’ve got to be better because we lost.” Brilliant. More of this please media officers.
Continue reading...Remarks come after Pat Cash accused Kyrgios of ‘cheating, manipulation and abuse’ at this year’s championships
The Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios has said that Australia’s tennis legends have a “sick obsession with tearing [him] down”.
The 27-year-old claimed he was “the outcast” of his compatriots before describing himself as an inspiration to others who have been surrounded by “negative headlines and clouds”.
Continue reading...Former PM says he didn’t tell powerbrokers he would like to join the Australian Rugby League Commission
The former prime minister Scott Morrison has denied making a bid to join the Australian Rugby League Commission, describing the reports as “a bit of pub talk”.
The Nine Network reported on Thursday that Morrison had spoken to “powerbrokers” in rugby league and made it “quite clear to them that he would like to be a part” of the commission, which runs the code, despite there not being a vacancy.
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Continue reading...Nick Kyrgios has wished Rafa Nadal well in his recovery from the injury that forced the Spaniard out of the Wimbledon semi-final and gifted the Australian a place in his first grand slam final.
Kyrgios was handed a walkover into Sunday’s final against either Novak Djokovic or Cam Norrie when Nadal, who played through an abdominal tear sustained during his quarter-final win against Taylor Fritz, admitted defeat and pulled out on Thursday.
Reuters and Australian Associated Press contributed to this report
Continue reading...Mary-Sophie Harvey says a ‘four-to-six hour window where I can’t recall a single thing’ left her with a concussion and rib sprain
A Canadian swimmer has said she was drugged at a recent world championship event in Budapest, leaving her with a concussion and rib sprain.
Mary-Sophie Harvey said on her Instagram account that she was drugged on the final night while celebrating in the Hungarian capital and that there was a “four-to-six-hour window where I can’t recall a single thing”.
Continue reading...Australian cycling veteran Simon Clarke has earned a magnificent, last-ditch Tour de France triumph to crown 20 years of slog on Europe’s roads after a brutal, crash-strewn cobbled stage.
But while the 35-year-old Israel-Premier Tech rider was left in floods of joyous tears after edging a lung-bursting sprint to win the fifth stage in a photo-finish on Wednesday, it proved a calamitous day for Australia’s biggest hitters on the Tour.
Continue reading...Fight in front of fans was reportedly broken up by police with the men taken into custody and later bailed
Three of Wimbledon’s security guards have been arrested after an alleged fight between them within the grounds of the grand slam tennis tournament.
The altercation on Friday took place between guards working for Knights Group Security, the company contracted to provide security services to Wimbledon.
Continue reading...Ajla Tomljanović has continued to fly the Australian standard handed over by Ash Barty at Wimbledon, surviving a nervy final set to reach the quarter-finals.
Watched from the stands by Margaret Court, the new national No 1 battled back from losing the first set to defeat French giant-killer Alizé Cornet 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Monday.
Continue reading...All England club emails tennis stars, who get £90 a day, and coaches, suggesting they rein in consumption to avoid shortages
Wimbledon stars have been asked to be “judicious” about maxing out their daily food allowance so supplies do not run out.
Competitors are given a £90 a day allowance to spend on food and drink in dedicated restaurants across SW19. Coaches are allocated about half that amount, with the funds available on accreditation tags that can be scanned at checkout.
Continue reading...Campaigners wearing T-shirts with name of Chinese tennis player say they were told not to approach anyone
Activists wearing “Where is Peng Shuai?” T-shirts claim they were confronted by Wimbledon security staff who warned them against approaching spectators and political messaging at SW19.
Nine-time champion Martina Navratilova expressed her anger at the move after the campaigners posted a video online saying they were stopped and questioned.
The group of four men from the Free Tibet campaign said they came to Wimbledon to “raise a bit of awareness” about the Chinese tennis player, a former doubles world No 1.
The 36-year-old disappeared from public view for weeks last year after she made public allegations on social media saying that a former top-ranked Communist party official pressured her into having sex.
But her post was deleted quickly, and Peng was not seen for a couple of weeks. She later appeared only in photo opportunities arranged by Chinese officials. The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) suspended hosting events in China because of their concerns about her.
Will Hoyles, 39, one of the campaigners, said: “We came trying to raise a bit of awareness but Wimbledon have managed to make it worse for themselves by harassing us …
“They were asking loads of questions about what we were going to do, why we were here, you know, what we’d already done etc. And we told them we’d just been wandering around and we’d spoken to a few people and that’s when they seemed to get quite suspicious.”
Continue reading...One win all year and 11 straight losses by 40+, the latest an 18 goal flogging. North Melbourne’s David Noble is coaching a club under siege
In November last year, the greats of the North Melbourne Football Club gathered at Arden Street. Legends of the club mingled with former captains, coaches, presidents, and sponsors. The mood was buoyant. The club’s debt had been wiped. Dani Laidley had been welcomed back. The number one draft pick looked ready made. “You can feel the energy, and feel the excitement in the air,” the outgoing chairman said.
But little has gone right since. The signs were there in the first practice match. North have since regressed in every area worth measuring. Their only win came against the Covid-ravaged Eagles. They’re the first team in VFL/AFL history to lose 11 straight games by more than 40 points. On Saturday night, they lost by 18 goals.
Continue reading...Billie Jean King, Roger Federer, Björn Borg and Venus Williams among 26 tennis legends to mark occasion
Wimbledon spectators were treated to appearances by some of the tournament’s legends including Billie Jean King, Roger Federer and Venus Williams on Sunday as Centre Court celebrated its 100th anniversary.
The ceremony featured 26 previous champions as well as a singalong led by Cliff Richard, recreating when he memorably entertained the Centre Court crowd in similar fashion during a lengthy rain delay in 1996.
Continue reading...World Cup winner Megan Rapinoe also among 17 recipients of Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest US civilian honor
The gymnast Simone Biles and soccer player Megan Rapinoe are among 17 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest US civilian honor, the White House announced on Friday.
The two sport stars are being celebrated for their accomplishments in competition and in social activism.
Continue reading...Australia have thrashed Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in Galle, bowling the hosts out in a session and claiming their fastest Test victory in 20 years. In a comprehensive display, Australia took only 22.5 overs to roll through Sri Lanka for 113 in their second innings on Friday, with Nathan Lyon and Travis Head taking four wickets each.
That left Australia needing five runs to win, with David Warner (10 not out) finishing the job inside an over with a four and a six. The win came in 153.2 overs for the Test match, Australia’s fastest since they demolished Pakistan in Sharjah in 2002.
Continue reading...Nadine Dorries, the secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, stunned a rugby league audience by confusing the 13-man game with the rival code.
Speaking in St Helens at the launch of a report into the social impact made by the upcoming Rugby League World Cup, Dorries opened her address with a reference to Jonny Wilkinson’s match-winning drop goal for England in union’s 2003 Rugby World Cup.
Continue reading...Cameron Green helped bat Australia to the safety of a 101-run lead in the first Test in Galle, after a morning of chaos caused by heavy rain and wild winds. Green’s 77 was the highlight of day two for Australia, before they went to stumps at 313-8 in reply to Sri Lanka’s 212 as bad light stopped play.
It came after more than two hours of play were lost to a morning storm that caused the roof of a makeshift grandstand in Galle’s International Stadium to collapse. Sightscreens were also torn down and a glass panel in a marquee smashed, as gusts of more than 60kph thrashed the coastal city.
Continue reading...Former F1 chief calls Russian president ‘first-class person’ in GMB interview and blames war on Zelenskiy
Formula One has sought to distance itself from remarks made by its former chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, who said he would “take a bullet” for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and described him as “a first-class person”.
Ecclestone, who reportedly has been friends with Putin since the introduction of the Russian Grand Prix in 2014, said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could have been avoided if the latter’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, had done more.
Continue reading...Ten British players step out in second round after day in which record six Britons won matches
A piece of history has been made at Wimbledon as 10 British players stepped out in the second round for the first time since 1984.
Harriet Dart, 25, defeated Spain’s Rebeka Masarova in straight sets as the crowd roared and her mother watched on, while British men’s No 1, Cameron Norrie, 26, was also triumphant on Wednesday, beating Spain’s Jaume Munar and reaching the third round.
Continue reading...The tournament is understood to have made a rare exception to its dress code, with some players wearing ribbons in solidarity
Wimbledon is abandoning its strict all-white rule for players who want to show solidarity with Ukraine after Russia’s invasion, it is understood.
Poland’s Iga Świątek, the women’s world No 1, wore a blue and yellow ribbon on her cap today in a sign of unity with Ukraine. The Ukrainian players Lesia Tsurenko and Anhelina Kalinina are also expected to wear ribbons when they come up against each other on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Thanasi Kokkinakis “can’t wait” after breaking his Wimbledon hoodoo to set up a second-round blockbuster with three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic.
Five long years since his last appearance at the All England Club, Kokkinakis continued his 2022 renaissance with a watershed 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, 7-5 victory over Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak on Monday.
Continue reading...